Weekly Wool Prices

Week Ending 31 March (Week 39)

Australian wool markets were dominated by large adjustments this week in the Merino sector. Unfortunately, this was all to the negative side, flowing on from the weaker conclusion to the previous week’s selling. Price levels were highly variable from the outset on all Merino wools, with large discrepancies apparent on relatively minor difference in tested specifications. By the close of selling, all Merino types were being quoted at a general 60ac clean/kg lower, whilst the carding and crossbred sectors were far less affected and remained unchanged to 20ac cheaper. The AWEX Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) fell away 44ac clean/kg from it’s highest ever recorded level to 1502ac clean/kg. Demand for prompt and short term shipment appears to have been met for the interim. After weeks of highly escalating market levels, the Merino wool values also seemed to hit a price point that just could not convince manufacturers to book forward contracts at these rates. Subsequently prices could not be sustained, as local auction buyers quickly interpreted the radical change in sentiment and reverted to safety mode by just cherry picking the selection at ever decreasing buy in levels.